HosNav puts Osler in the palm of your hand

No eating or drinking 12 hours before your appointment. Park in lot three or four. Use Entrance A. Take the Sun elevators. Or was it the Rose elevators?

Nobody has time to remember all of this ahead of a medical appointment.

Osler is bringing all of this information to your fingertips with its new mobile app, HosNav. And it’s free! The app features maps to the hospital, tips on the closest parking lots to a visitor’s destination, and the floors and locations of all outpatient clinics at the hospital. It also includes the extensive preparations required for most diagnostic tests.

HosNav was the winning entry in Osler’s national student app contest, Kiss My App – which was one of the first contests of its kind in Canada. Kiss My App challenged undergraduate students to think about a perceived issue in health care, and then develop an app to help address it. HosNav creator Atinderpal (Atinder) Singh Multani walked away with the $10,000 grand prize, donated by Osler’s Student Volunteer Youth Committee, for his winning submission.

“Winning Osler’s Kiss My App contest was a fantastic experience,” said Atinder Multani. “The contest gave me the opportunity to gain first-hand insight into the health care and technology sectors. Less than a year ago, HosNav was just an idea in my head and now it’s a reality. I’m proud that something I created will benefit so many people.”

HosNav officially launched at Osler’s Annual General Meeting on June 25. It’s the first step Osler has taken into the mobile space, and the hospital has used a special approach.

“We are thrilled to impact the patient experience in such a meaningful way,” said Matthew Anderson, President and CEO, William Osler Health System. “In this digital age, more and more people are using their smartphones as maps, day planners and research tools. By combining these features in our HosNav app, we hope to relieve some of the apprehension patients may experience before coming into the hospital and help them to more easily navigate their Osler experience.”

HosNav is developed for iPhones, now available for download from the App Store.